GAME: Word of the Day (WOTD)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Irreverent example:

My grandpa was easy-going and more self-effacing than braggard. Except when he indulged in the effects of the shaman's potion. Then grandpa's male charm was pure macho mojo.
---

My other grandpa also enjoyed a similar charm enhancer. It was no aphrodisiac though, it was simply the culinary mojo my other grandma cooked up for him. And no, these are not cojones, though Creadillas con Mojo may be a delicacy. More info here.

---

Somehow "mojo" makes me think of "l'argot de Paris". Could it be Apache slang too? Info here.

[voralfred]

Pitje le Mojo, not an Parisian Apache exiled in Algiers, but an authentic Mojave Amerindian (with roots from Brussels) tried thrice to exert his mojo on a prospective mo(jo)ther for his future children by offering her his favorite dish: cojones with mojonnaise. The first two found the meal too offensively macho, and fled. But, third time's a mojo!

[Algot Runeman]

Seeking mojo. If I have it, I don't know.
Walking real slow. Looking closely, still no show.
So fast I'll go. Racing wildly, look out, snow!
Fell down you know. Mojo not me, just bozo.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

fantod

\ FAN-tod \ Hear it pronounced here.
noun;
1.
A state of extreme nervousness or restlessness (usually expressed in the plural.)
2.
A sudden outpouring of anger, outrage, or a similar intense emotion.

Read the full dictionary entry

Quotes:
"Well, as your grandmother says, there's no use getting in a fantod about it," my mother said. "
-- Margaret Laurence, Isabel Huggan, A bird in the house

Such a fantod over what was, essentially, a pimple on Nanny's posterior.
-- Claire Browning, "Pot luck dinner: New Zealand's food mystery," Pundit, July 2010)

Origin:
Fantod is of obscure origin, apparently a derivation from fantique which is in turn a possible alteration of fantigue , a combination of "fantasy" and "fatigue."

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

.

Irreverent example:

Maybe my grandpa coined the word fantod in reverse. He loved movies in Todd-AO format.
After seeing Around the World in 80 Days, he used to say he was a todfan.

Cleopatra made him gush about her and it confirmed his todfannishness no end. I must admit, I'd love to take her to a candle-lit dinner.

When Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines was announced in the news, he was in all fantods, having to wait for it to be featured in Belgium.

I already have the flying men on DVD. I can heartily recommend it. I think I'll soon order the other two movies too.

[voralfred]

Consiering anions are attracted to the anode, and cations to the cathode, I was expecting a fantode to a metallic eletrode to which fans are attracted.

Spoiler: show

I KNOW what you are all thinking: down with all these physicists and chemists!

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Consiering anions are attracted to the anode, and cations to the cathode, I was expecting a fantode to a metallic eletrode to which fans are attracted.

Spoiler: show

I KNOW what you are all thinking: down with all these physicists and chemists!

Of course we think that. Why can't they speak plain English, or French or whatever.
All those anions and cations are just fantods, confusing people.
Were it up to me, I would say
Give us onions every day!

[voralfred]

Of course we think that. Why can't they speak plain English, or French or whatever.
All those anions and cations are just fantods, confusing people.
Were it up to me, I would say
Give us onions every day!

He, he!
I knew I would drive you into a fantod!

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

He, he!
I knew I would drive you into a fantod!

<Sigh !>

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

.

gerent

\ JEER-uhnt \ Hear it pronounced here.
noun;
1.
A ruler or manager.

Read the full dictionary entry

Quotes:
And to cap everything he had to call the gerent over, or whatever the man was, to complain glowering about this champagne, was it ullaged or what? and as the fellow scuttled off for a fresh bottle, snapped after him "Not even your bar's the same!" - this once familiar room changed now as those redecorated hearts; all he'd known vanishing; so that what was there that once had been and still was.
-- William Mode Spackman, An Armful of Warm Girl

With wind speeds of at least 20 knots to power your kites or fill your sails, Boracay's sleepy Bulabog Beach, is the gerent of gust.
-- "Best Beaches, Philippines," E-zine Diary (blog), April 2009.

Origin:
Gerent is an English adaptation of the Latin verb gerere , "to manage or conduct."

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

The only thing I can think of concerning this WotD, is the pronunciation. It sounds too much like "Gee, runt!".

In one of the anecdotes about my grandma, she yelled it after the tramp who called her fur coat a "portable bivouac", but that was just fictional kidding, you know?

But in French and Flemish, a "gérant" is the equivalent of "gerent", i.e. a kind of local CEO of a shop, department store, supermarket, in other words, the on-site business manager/franchise holder.

So "gerent", when said by shareholders is the designation for the person to blame, by customers is the person to complain to, and by lower rank employees is the person to ask for a raise or is an insult meaning "idiot".

Though in forums "gerent" is simply the administrator with all of the meanings listed above combined.

I found no good image for "gerent", but here's one for "Gee, runt".

[voralfred]

It is all nice and good for the two of us, EPS, to discuss the various merits of the English spelling of gerent anf the common French and Flemish (is it also the same in Netherlands Dutch?) of gérant, and thus develop the new sciences of gerentology and gérantologie. Unfortunately, soon we'll both be more in need of a gerontologist (gérontologue in French)

[Algot Runeman]

Voralfred, E.P.S., Which of you wants to claim the status of gerent in this WotD?

In either event, I'll refrain from casting any aspersions in either direction. I'll also be totally content to comment carelessly from the preferred position of plebeian, pedestrian purveyor of prosaic praise for your prowess.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... totally content to comment carelessly from the preferred position of plebeian ...

"Yes, oh yes, Master!", said Igor (Now where did I read that? I don't remember.) and he exclaimed "More power to the people!"

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

absquatulate

\ ab-skwoch-uh-leyt \ Hear it pronounced here.

verb;
1.
To flee; abscond.

Read the full dictionary entry

Quotes:
"You'd thank me to ' absquatulate ,' as the Yankees say,"interrupts she, laughing and showing the sweetest, shortest, whitest little set of teeth that ever set dentist at defiance. "Well, I will in a minute; but' I have an errand unto thee. oh, captain.'"
-- Rhoda Broughton, Cometh up as a flower: an autobiography

Predictably, he is rejected by the people and threats are made on his life (Jeremiah is probably in prison at this time) so the Lord commands him to take his family and absquatulate into the desert.
-- "A Book of Mormon Synopsis: The Small Plates," What Mormons Believe blog, January 2009.

We all know that there is nothing so easy to macerate, percolate, absquatulate and totally busticate as the Ten Commandments.
-- The Pharmaceutical Era (newspaper), 1908.

Origin:
Absquatulate is an example of a pseudo-Latinism, which combines Latin roots to form a new word. This was a 19th century linguistic trend in various parts of the United States.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

.

Irreverent example:

After the dentist had explained about mandibular impaction, anesthesia, exfoliating, incising, separating or fracturing, curettage, irrigation, suction, alveoloplasty, partial hemostasis, bone substitute packing, suturing and trismus, in short a lower molar extraction, he proposed to proceed immediately. But my grandpa thought "You're " and said, "I'll think about it! But right now I'll absquatulate!" and he did.

Sensitive or squeamish readers should NOT unhide the spoiler, and certainly NOT click on the image.
For the braver ones, the link leads to a nice educational site about various dental procedures.

Spoiler: show

Edit: spelling correction

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... Unfortunately, soon we'll both be more in need of a gerontologist (gérontologue in French)

I know what you mean. I'm beginning to experience the first symptoms.
I had to consult a dictionary (Google) to confirm my notion of the correct terms.

English: Geriatrician
French: Gériatre
Flemish, Dutch and German: Geriater

[voralfred]

... Unfortunately, soon we'll both be more in need of a gerontologist (gérontologue in French)

I know what you mean. I'm beginning to experience the first symptoms.
I had to consult a dictionary (Google) to confirm my notion of the correct terms.

English: Geriatrician
French: Gériatre
Flemish, Dutch and German: Geriater

Well, yes, if the sentence is "soon we"ll both be more in need of a ..."
the words you mention are the appropriate ones.

However, the words gérontologue, in French, and gerontologist in English also exist.
If many many years from now, thanks to our activity on this forum and in many many other ways, we keep the plenitude of our intellectual (and physical) means, instead of being in need of a geriatrician (aka gériatre, aka Geriater), we will on the contrary be a subject of study to gerontologists from all over the world, who will flock to investigate us and take us as exemples on how the aging population of this planet should cope with the years that add and add and still never make us old.
Hopefully!

[voralfred]

Concerning your post further above, despite your warning, I did not only unhide the spoiler, but took the foolhardy step to click on the image. Then of course, I had to absquatulate within a couple of seconds.
You put that trap knowing I'd fall into it, just so I could use this word, didn't you?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... I did not only unhide the spoiler, but took the foolhardy step to click on the image. ... You put that trap knowing I'd fall into it ...

If it's any consolation, the psychological lure and trap isn't meant for you only ...

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

koan

\ KOH-ahn \ Hear it pronounced here.
noun;
1.
A nonsensical or paradoxical question to a student for which an answer is demanded, the stress of meditation on the question often being illuminating.

Read the full dictionary entry

Quotes:
"All in One Day" is a hip shaking exercise in classic rock while the beautifully arranged "Holy," is a spare waltz for guitar and violin that closes this completely satisfying disc with a classic country music koan : "How do you sleep at night when your baby's aching?"
-- Chris Davis, "Sound Advice: Holly & the Heathens at the Hi-Tone," Memphis Flyer, July 2010.

At that time I believed my affective controls were no longer intact, but now I present this to you as a more cogent question than it might at first appear, a kind of koan of the period.
-- Joan Didion, The white album

Origin:
Koan is Japanese, ko "public" and -an , "matter for thought." It enters English through Zen Buddhism before achieving a more general sense.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

.

Irreverent example:

All I could reply to a koan is this onomatopoeia.

Instead of getting a koan, I would by far prefer a much more melodious conundrum, and still be able to reply with an equivalent statement.

[Algot Runeman]

Koan of the Day: "How does one compose a reasonable post when the WotD is koan?"

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Koan of the Day: "How does one compose a reasonable post when the WotD is koan?"

My point exactly.
It isn't even applicable to my grands! Though my grandpa's shaman, the one with the shuttle-raising additive, did have a predilection for obscure circumlocutions and koans, just like medics and physicists.

[voralfred]

EPS asked "Why?"
Voralfred answered "Here! But when?"
Hearing this, Algot was illuminated.
this is, actually, rather similar to typical Zen koans!